Dim Sum in Guangzhou @ 海雲軒

Sunday mornings in Guangzhou are very different to those in the UK in that the city is well and truly awake at a very early hour. This is clearly evident by the fact that the city's many dim sum restaurants are usually full to bursting by 10am. So it was no surprise that when we arrived at my uncle's local dim sum joint, we had to wait for a table, and even after we were seated, it seemed like ages before the food arrived. It's just as well that it was worth the wait.

I can't remember the name of the dumplings in the above photo but they were filled with a mix of peanut paste, sesame, water chestnuts, and spring onion, with some lard to enhance flavour. A true dim sum master created these little beauties, as the wrappers were gossamer thin and the dumplings perfectly steamed. Although the filling sounds a bit weird, it works really well, as there's a salty-sweet contrast in flavour.

Whilst 'man-sized' baked cha siu bao (叉燒餐包) are commonly seen in Chinatown bakeries around the world, I've only ever seen the miniature dim sum version in Asia. I really enjoyed these freshly baked soft buns with their honey glaze and tasty roast pork filling.

More familar dishes such as siu mai (燒賣), steamed spare ribs w/chilli (蒸排骨), and steamed beef balls (牛肉球) were also well rendered. The latter was particularly excellent, as there was a decent amount of dried citrus peel (果皮 guo pi) in the beef ball mixture. Also worthy of mention is the excellent congee (粥 juk).

I wouldn't go so far as to say that this is life-changing dim sum (for that try The Garden Hotel) or that you should especially visit this restaurant. Mind you, the quality of the dim sum is streets ahead of most of what you'll find in the UK and better than the couple of yum cha places I visited in Hong Kong. So if you do happen to be in the Tianhe area of Guangzhou then 海雲軒 is definitely worth a visit for breakfast, brunch or lunch.

By the way, despite this place having an English name on its business card, Ocean World Restaurant, only the Chinese name, 海雲軒, is seen on its signage. The dim sum order sheet is also only in Chinese, and I'm not sure if they have an English language menu or English speaking staff.

The easiest way to get to this restaurant is to hail a taxi and show the driver the address in Chinese:

海雲軒 Ocean World Restaurant
广州市天河北路550-556号帝景苑商业中心二楼
550-556 Tianhe Bei Lu, Guangzhou, China

However, the entrance is actually on 龙口西路 (Longkou Xi Lu), which runs perpendicular to 天河北路 (Tianhe Bei Lu).